The Beginning
by The Airman
Summary: This is a story of how a Ranger in the Iraqi conflict is thrown into the future. Reviews welcomed, epilouge done!Thx to everyone who helped me out. Disclaimer: i dont own halo or anything related to halo.
1. Chapter 1

Private 1st Class Juan Perez stared out the window of his Humvee, his rifle at his feet. The dry, desert heat was making him sweat, and the world's most powerful military couldn't put a freakin' A/C in something that was going into the desert. His Humvee was part of a fifteen vehicle convoy whose mission was to provide relief to a U.S. air base in Baghdad. His tour in Iraq just started and he already wanted to go back.

"Man this kinda sucks."

Said his best friend and driver PFC Michael Shaunter.

"Well, at least it can't get any worse than this."

As soon as he said this, Perez felt a jet of hot air rush past him. He looked up and saw and saw the end of a rocket propelled grenade streak past his jeep and hit the side of a convoy truck that was carrying ammunition. There was a deafening explosion followed by a large fireball as the shells and cartridges ignited. Before Perez could react the distinct chatter of AK-47's filled the air. He grabbed his M-16 and bailed out of the jeep with Michael following suite. The gunner on the .50 cal was already down due to a bullet wound to the chest.

"Get up their and man that fifty!" he yelled to Michael.

Michael wordlessly carried out the command. He climbed into the gunner's slot, chambered a round, and began firing at targets. By this time the entire convoy was engaged. The sound of .50 cals, AK's and M-16s were deafening. Perez made his way toward the center of the convoy to find the convoy's commanding officer. Halfway to the command vehicle a bullet whizzed passed his ear. Perez turned to find his attacker and saw three Iraqi's advancing toward him. He dropped to his knee and switched his rifle to single shot mode. Perez aimed at the center man and fired twice into his chest. The enemy fell backwards with his finger on the trigger firing his last burst. The other two attackers stopped and fired. Perez shifted and aimed at the second Iraqi. He gave the trigger a double tap and two bullets went through the terrorist's skull and flew out the back. The third attacker started firing wildly and spraying Perez's position with bullets. Perez kept his poise and leveled his  
rifle at the target. He gave the trigger another double tap and was rewarded with a spray of pink mist surrounding the attacker's head. Perez continued heading toward the center of the convoy. He spotted the Lieutenant's Humvee and made his way toward it. There Lieutenant Emerson was taking cover behind the vehicle and was staring into space, clutching his rifle, and muttering quietly to himself. Perez looked at his commanding officer and shook his head.

"Lieutenant we need to get out of here!" he yelled to Emerson.

But Emerson continued muttering and staring off into space. Perez reached down to shake him out of it but as soon as he did, Emerson's head erupted in a spray of blood. Perez looked around and saw an Iraqi with a scoped rifle chamber another round and takes aim at him. Perez sprinted to the front of the vehicle crouched down. He felt a bullet ping off of the side of the Humvee. Perez jumped out of hiding, aimed, and fired at the sniper, a blossom of red spouted from the Iraqi's skull. He ran back to his own vehicle and jumped in the driver's seat. Shaunter was still there shooting at targets Perez couldn't see. After the ambush, the rest of the trip was uneventful. Perez and his fellow soldiers pulled into the gates of Camp Retribution 3 hours later.


	2. Chapter 2

**Camp Retribution**

2100 Hours, June 11th 2007

PFC Juan Perez  
  
Perez pulled into the base and parked in a designated area for other jeeps. He grabbed his rifle and stepped out. Michael climbed down from the gunners spot. As soon as they were both out of the Humvee a voice on the P.A. system.

"All units from 2nd Ranger battalion report to Command Center for debriefing."

Perez looked at Michael and slung his rifle over his back.

"Looks like we got a date with a General." He said.

Michael looked around.

"yeah, but where is the Command Center? This place is a city."

Camp Retribution was four miles by four miles, one of the largest U.S. bases in the world. It was designed as an actual city, with roads, stores, and ammunition manufacturers. In short, Camp Retribution was almost entirely self sufficient. Perez flagged down a fellow Ranger,

"Where we supposed to be goin?" he asked.

"Command Center is about a five minute walk from here, just follow me and I'll get you there."

The Ranger started walking and Perez and Michael followed.

"What kind of base is this?" Perez asked.

"This is an advanced weapons testing, research, and development base. It also doubles as an air base."

"Ok, next question, who are you?"

"I'm Corporal Lance Jones, Rangers 43rd battalion."

"Is it just Rangers here? 'Cuz I got no problem with that."  
Shaunter said, joining the conversation.

"No, we have Delta boys, Marines, Army, SEALS, and even some boys from the 1st Infantry." Perez gave a low whistle.

"That's a lot of guys to guard a base." He observed.

"Yeah well this is an important base, if this base goes, half of the new technology we get on the battlefield go with it."

Corporal Jones stopped in front of a concrete building.

"Well here you go, this is command, talk to the Marine at the desk and find out where you're gonna go."

"Thanks 'mano."

Perez called as the Corporal walked away. Perez and Shaunter entered through the giant glass doors and looked around. The inside looked a lot better than the outside, it had fake trees and a small fountain next to the desk.

"Can I help you?" the Marine at the desk asked.

"PFC Perez and Shaunter reporting for debriefing as ordered." Perez said.

"Right this way gentlemen."

The Marine showed them to a small office with a stainless steel table, with three chairs.

"The General will be here shortly to debrief you two."  
The Marine told them and then left. After five minutes had passed a three star General entered the room.

"Sir!"

Perez and Shaunter both stood and snapped off a salute.

"At ease gentlemen."

The general walked around to the opposite side of the table while the two Rangers took their seats. The general sat down and shuffled some papers and lit a cigar. Finally he looked at them.

"So you boys were in the convoy that was attacked earlier today."

It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes sir." They answered in unison.

"So, does one of you know what happened to Lieutenant Emerson?"

Shaunter began to shake his head no, but Perez spoke up.

"Yes sir, I went looking for the Lieutenant as soon as the ambush took place."

The general looked at him, as if seeing him for the first time.

"Go on son, what happened?"

Perez looked ahead trying to recall what happened. The whole ambush was a blur and it seemed like it happened a week ago, even though it had been a few hours.

"Well sir, when I found him he had lost it, it looked like the attack had spooked him pretty bad. When I tried to make him snap out of it a sniper came and shot him in the head."

The general sighed, then nodded.

"Well, one of my Intel boys saw you and Private Shaunter here. They said you two killed quite a few insurgents, and you were both smart enough not to get yourselves shot so, I hereby promote you both to the rank of Corporal. Congratulations boys, you just moved up in the world."

He slid two pins with double chevrons on them, denoting a corporal. The two Rangers looked at each other in disbelief, and then they looked at the pins, then back up to the general. He smiled and nodded,

"Go ahead, they're yours, just don't make me regret giving them to you." Perez smiled and saluted.

"Rangers lead the way sir!"

The general returned the salute and finished the saying,

"Always… Dismissed Rangers."

As they walked out Shaunter whistled and smiled.

"Man, Corporal Michael Shaunter, 2nd Ranger Battalion. I like the sound of that."

"Me too man, me too."

Replied Perez as he pinned the insignia on his uniform. They walked out and found their sergeant waiting for them.

"Well... well, looks like I taught you two something after all." Perez grinned,

"Well sir, ya gotta do what ya gotta do, and pray to got you don't die so you can get paid or laid." The sergeant laughed.

"Ok boys, barracks are this way."

The Sergeant climbed into a parked Humvee and Perez and Shaunter got in with him.

"Ok boys, I'm supposed to brief you boys in on why we're here. This is an advanced weapons research and development base. We're here for additional security because insurgent activity is unusually high in this area. On the other side of the base their developing a new bomb. I don't know much about it, but it's supposed to make a black hole appear and destroy anything in a seven mile radius nice and clean like. Any questions?"

Shaunter raised his hand from the back seat,

"Uh, yeah, how's the grub here?"

The Sergeant laughed.

"It's moderately mediocre."

Shaunter leaned back.

"Ah, of course."

Perez was about to say something when an explosion sounded across from the base. All three occupants of the vehicle turned to see what it was. Raid sirens began to sound throughout the base.

"Shit, it's a mortar attack."

The sergeant floored the Humvee and Shaunter climbed up to the gunner's position. Perez checked his rifle and searched for the location of the attack. Black smoke poured from a building close to the concrete wall that surrounded the base.

"Hang on!"

The sergeant called from the driver's seat. He swerved and headed toward the building. Suddenly the building started to glow, and a dark mist descended on the base. Perez heard a buzzing noise in his head and he suddenly felt sick. He looked around but everything was becoming blurry.

"I think something's wrong here!" he shouted

But nobody heard him. He tried to get out of the jeep, but when he was reaching for the handle he blacked out.


	3. Chapter 3

**UNSC Pelican Dropship Echo 242**

**En route to Site Zero, Iraq**

**2551**

"Ok men listen up! Earlier today an unknown energy source was found near Site Zero. Our mission is to recon the area and see if this source is Covenant. Any questions?"

The men of the 22nd Marine Division looked around at each other uneasily. Site Zero was a place no Marine wanted to go. They had heard stories of what happened there hundreds of years ago. There were even stories of the occasional civilian wandering into Site Zero and never seen again.

Private Jenkins looked up at the Sergeant. "Yeah, why do we gotta go, I don't plan on dyin any time soon."

Sergeant Johnson looked at him and smiled showing his bright white teeth, "Son, if you were worried about dyin, you shouldn't have joined my beloved Corps."

Jenkins still looked nervous, "I just gotta bad feeling 'bout this."

Everyone just sat and quietly listened to the exchange. They all wondered if Jenkins' feeling was true or not. None of them doubted that whatever they were going to find at Site Zero was good.

"Three hours until we get there!" The pilot called from the cockpit.

All the Marines continued to silently ponder of their fate, and what awaited them at Site Zero.

**Corporal Juan Perez**

**Site Zero, Iraq**

**2551**

Corporal Perez sat up in the passenger seat of the Humvee. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times because his vision was a little blurry. He looked over at Sergeant Valderenko. The Sergeant was slumped over the steering wheel but he moaned and began to stir.

"Aw man, I gotta get out of this outfit if this is how it works," said Corporal Shaunter from the back seat.

Perez got out and walked around to stretch his legs and to make sure that nothing was broken. He was a little stiff but he would survive. He just needed to get back to the barracks and get a nap.

That's when Perez stopped. He looked around. There was nothing around for miles except for sand. But there was supposed to be a base here. A really big base too, its kind of hard to lose one of those.

"Hey Sarge," he called, "I think we have a problem here!"

"What's wrong with you, you scared?" he asked with a grin.

"Well, for starters, wheres our base?" Juan gestured with his arms, "Cuz it aint here."

The grin on Sergeant Valderenko's face vanished. He looked around too and saw nothing.

"Shaunter," he yelled, "get on the radio and call HQ."

"Yes sir!" and Shaunter slid into the driver's seat and started working the radio.

"Perez, check the Humvee for any weapons, we left ours at the base."

"Yes sir."

Perez opened the hatch at the back of the Humvee and found two M-16's and two crates of ammunition for them. There was also a case marked M107 .50 cal. Intrigued, he opened the case. What he found was a long range, semi-automatic, .50 caliber sniper rifle.

Perez grinned, "Hey Shaunter, I got a little somethin somethin for ya!"

Shaunter looked around at him, "Yeah? What is it?"

Perez held up the rifle. "Merry Christmas you lucky SOB!"

Shaunter was the best shot Perez had ever seen. He often won competitions against other snipers in the Army, Navy, and the Marines. Combine this skill with one of the most powerful sniper rifles the military had to offer and Shaunter was a force to be reckoned with.

"Well, we're not going to get anything done standing around here, lets get going Rangers." Sergeant Valderenko told them.

All three of them climbed back into the Humvee with their rifles. This time Perez was driving and the Sergeant was in the passengers seat trying to get some one on the radio. Shaunter took his accustomed place and the vehicle's gun.

They drove southward trying to find a U.S. base that no longer existed, not knowing what had happened to them.

**UNSC Dropship, Echo 242**

**Arriving at Site Zero, Iraq**

**2551**

The dropship touched down two hours after the Rangers left. The members of the 22nd immediately took up defensive positions as soon as they got out of the Pelican. They were still uneasy about being here, but they were confident in their abilities as Marines.

"Ok boys, look around for anything outta the ordinary, if its alive, it outta the ordinary and I wanna know about," he paused, "you read me?"

"Yes sir!" the Marines called out.

Johnson walked around looking for anything that might have been a clue as to what happened years ago. The story was that when the U.S. was an independent military nation they had a secret weapons base stationed here when the Iraqi conflict was going on. There was an explosion and the base just vanished. No personnel were found and the site was quarantined a labeled Site Zero. It stayed that way ever since.

"Sir come here, I think I found something!" Johnson shook his head to clear his thoughts and turned to see Jenkins waving him over.

"Look here, tire tracks." He said pointing at the ground.

"What would a Warthog be doing way out here?" a nearby Marine wondered aloud.

"That's no Warthog," Johnson said gruffly, "that's something else, something that we need to find."

He started issuing orders, "Bisenti, Jenkins, get that Warthog off the Pelican and get it ready for a little trip."

"Ok we're on it," said Bisenti, and him, along with Jenkins, ran over to the Pelican and began unlatching the Warthog from its belly.

"Burns, I want you to get on the radio and start scanning all freqs, see if there is anyone out there using a radio."

Burns saluted and walked to the hatch of the Pelican and began assembling the radio they brought along. At that time Bisenti and Jenkins wheeled the 'Hog from the Pelican and waited for further orders.

Johnson smiled at them, "saddle up boys, we're goin on a road trip."


	4. Chapter 4

**Corporal Juan Perez**

**50 miles from Site Zero, Iraq**

**2551**

After driving for what seemed like hours, Perez finally got the order to stop.

"Ok, lets if we can get anything on the radio." Sergeant Valderenko said from the passenger's seat.

He turned on the radio and began flipping through different frequencies.

"Base this is Bravo 2-1 over." After a few seconds he flipped to another frequency.

"Base this is Bravo 2-1 come in, over." Again they all heard static.

Valderenko sighed, "I guess we're gonna be hear awhile."

Shaunter climbed down from the gunner's port, "Still can't get anybody on the radio?"

Valderenko shook his head, "Nyet, it's like theirs nobody out there." He swore in his native tongue, sighed, and got back on the radio.

**Temporary Base of Operations for 22nd Marine Division**

**Site Zero, Iraq**

**2551**

Corporal Burns was monitoring the radio for at least three hours now and he was getting bored. What would anybody be doing on the radio out here in this hellhole?

Just for kicks he put out a message on all freqs that were in a 100 mile radius.

"Well hello out there from beautiful Site Zero vacation and spa. We would like to thank you for visiting us 'cuz nobody else will. We will be playing a nice musical selection from one of our very, Sergeant Johnson! And if your listening sir, please don't kill me."

Burns popped in a data disc that started playing Hell's Bells. To say that Burns was shocked that somebody called in on an old distress freq was a dramatic understatement.

"This is Bravo 2-1 to any friendly forces, please respond."

**Corporal Juan Perez**

**Currently 70 miles from Site Zero, Iraq**

**2551**

Bravo team was thrilled to hear somebody answer them when they tried to radio somebody on the distress freq.

"Bravo 2-1 this is Sergeant Johnson, UNSC 22nd Marine Division. What is your current location?"

Valderenko looked at the other Rangers, "What the hell is the UNSC?" 

But all he got were shoulder shrugs and blank looks for answers.

"Location unknown, but we need an evac as soon as you can get us one."

There was a long silence on the radio when finally, "Ok we're following your tracks to your location, hold position and we'll get to you as soon as we can, over."

Valderenko smiled, "That's good news; don't take too long, we're getting kinda bored."

Valderenko looked at Perez and Shaunter, "I want you two take up defensive positions, we don't know if these guys are friendly or not." He looked around, "Shaunter I want you to take you rifle and get on top of one of these dunes, if their following our tracks, then their gonna be comin from that general direction."

Shaunter went to the Humvee and unpacked his rifle. He assembled it, took a couple of clips and a canteen of water, and picked a sand dune to wait for whoever was coming.

Perez looked at Valderenko expectantly, "Perez I want you with me, if this meeting goes south, I'm gonna want your help."

Perez turned and got his M-16 from the Humvee. He took the clip out to make sure it was loaded, after confirming it was a full clip, he slid it back into place and chambered a round. Perez then sat down against the Humvee and closed his eyes.

Sergeant Valderenko checked Shaunter's position then sat down next to Perez and kept a lookout for any sign of an approaching vehicle.

**Sergeant Johnson's team**

**En route to Bravo Team**

**2551**

Sergeant Johnson squinted against the bright sun. _Of all the places this could've happened, why the hell did it have to happen in the desert?_ But Johnson couldn't complain really. This was the closest thing to a vacation he had had in a while. He didn't even know when the next time was that he was going to be able to come back to Earth after this Planetary Defense Rotation.

"Sergeant this is Burns, you should be coming up on Bravo Team's location now."

Johnson looked around for any signs of life and saw none.

But Corporal Shaunter saw them. He radioed in Johnson's location.

"Sergeant, I've got one light armored vehicle inbound on your position, ETA is about five minutes. Be advised, it is heavily armed, and had three occupants over."

**Corporal Juan Perez**

**Bravo Team Humvee**

**2551**

"Acknowledged." Valderenko waved Perez to his position.

"Get ready their almost here." He whispered.

Perez looked around for any signs of movement but saw none, though he did hear the distant sound of an engine. While he was looking for the source of the noise, a bright flash caught his eye. He turned to see what caused it and saw what looked kind of like a Humvee, but didn't have any windows, and a giant gun mounted on the back.

When the vehicle stopped a black man with a sergeant's insignia walked toward them, along with another soldier carrying a rifle. The man on the gun stayed where he was.

"Can I help ya'll?" he asked.

"You can start by telling us who you are." Was Valderenko's reply.

"I'm Sergeant Johnson, this man here is Private Bisenti, and the guy on the gun is Private Jenkins." Each man nodded a greeting when Johnson pointed to them.

Johnson then turned back to the Rangers, "Ok ya'll know who we are, what about you guys?"

Valderenko nodded, "Fair enough, I'm Sergeant Ivan Valderenko, this is Corporal Perez, and our third man is hidden, his name is Corporal Shaunter."

Johnson looked around for the sniper but couldn't find him. "Well if you guys want a lift outta here you better follow us."

"Ok, let me call Shaunter and we'll be outta here."

"I'm already on the way down Sarge." Everyone turned and saw Shaunter coming up behind the Warthog.

Nobody bothered to ask where he was, because he would just grin and say, "Nowhere."

Perez never saw anybody who was such a good hider.

After everybody was loaded off they set off to Site Zero. Sergeant had already called in another Pelican to transport Bravo Team's vehicle. By the time they arrived to Site Zero both Pelicans were warmed up and ready to leave. Before Sergeant Valderenko could board Johnson stopped him.

"I don't know who you boys are or were ya'll are from…but when we get back some ONI spooks what to debrief you and your men. Then I want you tell me about you over a few beers."

Valderenko grinned, "Make it Vodka and you've got yourself a deal!"

Both men chuckled and boarded the Pelican.


	5. Chapter 5

**ONI Headquarters**

**Sydney, Australia**

**June 12th 2551**

"So tell us again, where are you from?"

"How many times do I gotta tell you assholes, I'm from Camp Retribution. We were stationed in Iraq."

"Ok, and what military are you from."

"United States Army Rangers, 2nd Ranger Battalion, are you guys stupid or something, or maybe deaf?"

Perez was pissed. He didn't know what the hell was going on, and he didn't like that at all. After they were picked up out of the desert they were sent to a base he had never seen before. It was at night and he couldn't see much, but something told him that this wasn't a US base.

"The United States hasn't had an independent military for quite some time; it is interesting to know why you think you are from a military presence that doesn't exist."

Perez looked around for who was talking but he couldn't see anyone. It was too dark; all he could make out were shapes of people. A door behind him opened, in stepped a man in green fatigues. He walked over to where the questioners were sitting, the man handed one of the questioners an envelope. He then saluted and left.

There was a long pause, "Interesting, it seems that you are telling the truth."

"No shit." 

"But there is a problem; you are no longer in the same time from which you came from."

Perez blinked, "Ok…what?"

"It says here that you are from the base that had the incident at Site Zero. This base was working on an explosive device called a BHB, or Black Hole Bomb. This bomb had the capability of creating a miniature black hole for approximately thirty seconds, after that the black hole dissipates, as with anything caught in its path."

"Yeah, that's really interesting, what's that got to do with me?"

"There was an explosion, am I correct?"

Perez tried to remember, "Yeah…there was a mortar attack on one of the buildings, why?"

The questioner continued, "It appears that the building that was struck was the same building that the bomb was located in. When it exploded a black hole was created that destroyed the entire base. But it appears that the occupants in your vehicle got lucky, and were sent into the future."

Perez laughed, "you expect me to believe that? That I was sent into the future? Your crazy 'mano."

"If you don't believe me then step outside, look around, the United States military unified the world's military forces. This was when military space vessels were created, and the UNSC was also created."

"Ok so what about me, what about the other Rangers? What's gonna happen to us?"

The man thought for a moment, "I suppose we can draft you and your fellow Rangers into the UNSC. However, we are in the middle of a war, so you will have to be debriefed."

Perez looked around, were these guys serious? They really were just going to let him join their little military outfit? Well if what these guys say is true, Perez figured he had no other choice.

"What kind of war?"

**Corporal Juan Perez**

**Inner Colony Sigma Octanus IV**

**2552**

"Perez, lets go! We need to get the hell out of here!"

Perez sprinted toward Shaunter's location and prayed to God that he wouldn't get shot. Right before he made it he heard an Elite roar. Perez spun around and spotted the alien rushing toward him. He dropped to his knee and aimed at the center of the Elite's chest. He switched his M-16 to three round burst and squeezed the trigger. The Elite rocked back as the rounds hit his shields.

"Dammit! Would you die!" Perez yelled and continued hammering the Elite.

Finally the shields flared, then died. Perez gave a whoops and pulled the trigger one last time. The final three rounds went through the alien's chest, causing the Elite to spin and fall. It coughed and tried to stand again but a round from Shaunter's rifle took care of him. The powerful .50 caliber round separated the lower half of the body from the upper half, spraying blood and entrails across the ground.

Perez made it to Shaunter's position, "time to go."

Both Rangers ran toward the Marine Base that was stationed nearby. They were in a wooded area so Perez wasn't worried about being seen by any enemy recon units. But he was still pretty nervous, they had lost contact with any UNSC forces for a while and he had no clue where they were.

"Shaunter…where in the hell are we?" Perez said.

Shaunter consulted the map, "Ok, the map says that the Marine base should be over the next hill."

Perez looked over the hill where the base was supposed to be and felt his heart sink. There were giant plumes of thick, black smoke filling the air. That could not be a good thing.

"Umm, Shaunter, we may have a small problem."

Shaunter looked up and saw the smoke too.

"Shit… well, let's check out."

They climbed the muddy slope and made it to the top of the hill. Neither soldier was ready for what they saw. The entire base was destroyed. Dead or dying soldiers were everywhere. The smell of charred flesh filled their nostrils. The cry of the dying drifted toward them.

A few stragglers where walking around, mostly in shock of what had happened. Perez saw one man sit down and start shaking.

"We…we gotta go down there, we gotta do something." Perez looked over at Shaunter, he had never heard him sound like that before. He was scared.

"Ok, let's go, stay sharp and watch for hostiles."

Perez took point and Shaunter stayed behind him. Both men walked with their rifles raised, scanning for any enemies. Perez looked for a soldier that wasn't completely shell shocked. He found one.

"Bout time you boys showed up. I thought you guys were out on a date."

Sergeant Ivan Valderenko was covered in ash and blood. He had apparently been trying to save every Marine he could.

"Sir, we need to get off of this world as soon as possible."

"We will, as soon as the rest of your squad shows and we get a ride out of here."

Perez looked at Shaunter, "sir… we are the rest of our squad."


	6. Chapter 6

**Corporal Juan Perez**

**Inner Colony Sigma Octanus IV**

**2552**

Sergeant Valderenko looked from Perez, to Shaunter, then back to Perez, "You want to explain that Corporal?"

Shaunter spoke up, "We were ambushed as soon as we landed sir, we lost have our team as soon as we got on the ground. They have some kind of new species we haven't seen before. It had to be at least eight feet high, and it had a cannon on one of its arms. It started shootin before we could do anything." 

Valderenko nodded his head, he spoke slowly, "It seems the Covenant really want this planet, and as much as I would like to stay here and kick their asses, I've been on the radio with FLEETCOM and the fight upstairs isn't goin to well for us. So we have been ordered to return to the _Iroquois _as soon as we can. There's a Pelican waitin for us at the Alpha Base. We leave now."

"How are we gonna get there sir?" Perez asked.

"We've got a couple of Warthogs hidden in the woods, you two are going to take one Warthog, and I'll take the other one. These two," he motioned to the other two surviving Marines that were collecting ammo," are in no condition to be left alone, I'll be drivin these two personally."

Shaunter grinned, "You're not worried about us sir?"

Valderenko laughed, "You boys were messed up in the head way before I got ahold of you."

"You aint lyin sir." Perez joined in.

"Ok, enough messin around, lets get out of here, you two have point vehicle, we'll cover your rear." He turned to the other two Marines, "Marines lets go! You rides waitin on you!"

The two Marines ran over to where the three Rangers were standing. Perez looked around, Marines with Rangers, who would've thunk it. Then Perez remembered that he was one of the only Rangers left. Maybe they could ask the UNSC to train some more, get the Ranger way going again.

His thoughts were cut short by the Sergeant who yelled at him to get in his 'Hog and go.

Perez jumped in the drivers seat and Shaunter, yet again, got on the gun. After Perez got the go signal from Valderenko he sped off to where Alpha Base was supposed to be.

For the next thirty minutes Perez swerved, bumped and sped through the forest, kicking up mud and spraying the Warthog that was following them. He got multiple complaints from the Sergeant for this.

"Perez when we get back I'm gonna.." but Perez never heard the rest of it.

He didn't here the rest of it because two Banshees appeared out of know where.

"Shaunter! I got two bogies at six o' clock high!" Perez called out.

"I see 'em!" was the reply.

Valderenko's gunner saw them too. He turned to fire but never got the chance. The lead 'Shee fired on the Warthog with its plasma cannon. Perez looked in his rearview mirror and saw the Sergeant swerve to avoid the superheated plasma bomb but with no avail.

The bolt clipped the side of the 'Hog sending it flying into the air and smashing into the side of a tree. The second Banshee hit it with another plasma bomb to make sure there were no survivors. Perez saw all this and swore under his breath. There was no way Valderenko or the other two Marines could've survived that.

The two Banshees turned on the surviving 'Hog. But both wanted to claim the kill as their own. This was apparent when one dived under the other but the lead 'Shee also dived to block his shot.

Shaunter took advantage of the two alien craft being so close together and opened fire. The rounds struck the higher Banshee's left wing causing it to pitch to the left and collide with the other 'Shee. Both aircraft exploded and flew to the earth in a giant heap.

Perez stopped to make sure that both the Elite pilots were dead. After making sure that they were, Perez consulted his map for the location of Alpha Base. According to the map they were only three miles away from the base.

Perez turned to look in the direction of the base.

"Oh shit… Shaunter!"

Shaunter turned to look at Perez, "What?"

Perez pointed to the smoke, "That's where Alpha Base is supposed to be."

Perez looked around to make sure that the smoke was coming from Alpha Base and not blowing in from another location. While he was looking he thought he saw something…odd.

Perez turned and stared back at Alpha Site. "Shaunter," he whispered, "There's a camouflaged Elite at your left side on the tree line." Shaunter turned to look but Perez stopped him, "Don't look yet, when I say go you shoot him and I'll make sure that another one doesn't try to get us."

Shaunter nodded and gripped the handles of the large gun so tight his knuckles turned white.

"Ready…Now!"

Shaunter spun around and faced his target. He could just barely make out the faint shimmering outline that was slowly creeping towards him. As soon as the Elite figured out that he was spotted he activated his plasma sword.

Shaunter opened fire on him. The wave of bullets ripped the Elite's body in half. The Elite howled in pain and rage, and then it coughed up blood. Before Perez could congratulate Shaunter he felt something grab his uniform a throw him out of the vehicle.

Perez landed face first on the ground, hard. He spun around to face his attacker but saw nothing. Then another energy sword activate in front of him. Shaunter tried to fire but the Elite was inside the gun's dead zone.

Perez drew his sidearm, a .357 Magnum revolver. He aimed at the area the Elite's head should be and fired. He was rewarded with a grunt of pain and shimmer from the Elite's shield. Perez continued firing until he was out of rounds.

The Elite's shields flickered and died but it was still alive. The Elite lunged at Perez, but the Ranger rolled out of the way and jumped back up. He then ran away from the Elite. The alien stared at his opponent in puzzlement the pursued him.

Perez hoped that Shaunter was a good shot because if he wasn't… Perez shook his head. He turned back to see if the Elite was following him, but he noticed Shaunter wasn't on the gun.

This took Perez off guard. He was too busy looking for Shaunter and not to where he was going. Perez suddenly felt like he hit a brick wall. He fell back dazed and confused. He looked to see what he hit and was amazed at what he was.

In front of Perez stood a Spartan. His FOF tag said that the green armored soldier was with the UNSC so he went along with it. The Elite roared a challenge at the newcomer. The Spartan jumped through the air and landed in front of the Elite. The alien warrior reared its sword back to take a swing but the Spartan was too quick.

As soon as the alien's stomach was exposed the Spartan punched as hard as he could. The force of the blow sent the alien flying backwards. The Spartan moved in to finish the job. He drew his side arm and fired three times in the Elite's face.

Blood and brains sprayed the ground and the Elite twitched and died. The Spartan turned to Perez.

"There's a dropship at the Alpha Base site. We need to hurry and make it there before we get left behind."

Perez pointed to the Warthog, "If you need a ride we can give you one."

The Spartan looked around, "We?"

"I got a gunner around here somewhere, but I think he chickened out and left me alone."

That's when Shaunter came out of the woods holding his sniper rifle.

"I did not, I was fixing to get a shot off but the jolly green giant blocked me so…suck it Perez."

"Whatever 'mano, you ran," Perez said with a grin.

As they were walking back to the Warthog, Shaunter handed Perez back his gun,

"I believe this is yours."

The Spartan looked at the pistol as Perez holstered it, "What kind of pistol is that?"

"This is a .357 Magnum Revolver, it has six shots and is one of the most powerful pistols there is. This baby has gotten me through a few tough spots." Perez said proudly.

They all climbed into the Warthog, for once Perez didn't have to drive as the Spartan took that duty for himself. Shaunter still had to man the gun though.

"Why am I always on the gun?" he asked

"So I don't have to listen to you whine, that's why." Perez replied.

The Spartan didn't say much as he drove them to the Alpha Base. Which didn't fair much better than the other base. But they linked up with the Pelican, and returned to the _Iroquois _without any further incidents.

"Where do we go now?" Perez asked the Spartan.

"Reach"


	7. Chapter 7

**0500 Hours, August 29, 2552**

**Epsilon Eridani System, Reach**

"Every soldier has one wish, that wish is to die a soldier's death. To die on the battlefield defending his country, or to die defending his fellow soldier. Sergeant Ivan Valderenko, a.k.a 'Crazy Ivan' will be remembered as one of the best and last Ranger's to ever fight and die in combat. His death will not be in vain. His death will be avenged with the entire annihilation of the Covenant and all those who make it."

Perez finished his Sergeant's eulogy and stepped away from his former commanding officer's grave. The twenty one gun salute boomed and echoed across the open field. Perez stared at the other people at the funeral, a few of the men from Sigma Octanus, Shaunter, and surprisingly enough, two of the Spartan's that had saved him and Michael.

Shaunter looked over at Perez and nodded grimly. They had lost one of their own and it had hit them hard. They had fought for Earth fiercely ever since their indoctrination into the UNSC last year. They knew they would probably die sooner or later but, they thought it would come later rather than sooner.

"I guess we're all that's left." Shaunter whispered.

"I guess so." Perez agreed.

The two Rangers had been on Reach for three days now and they enjoyed it for the most part. They got to get acquainted with some of the Marines here, and they even trained with the ODST's. For the most part Perez and Shaunter were one hundred percent UNSC. But their uniforms still had the Ranger insignia custom stitched on their uniforms.

"I wonder what we're gonna do after this." Shaunter wondered.

"I heard that we're going on a special ops mission with the Pillar of Autumn. Some kind of infiltration mission. We're goin with the Spartans." Perez said.

"I'm glad those guys on our side." Shaunter said admiringly

"I know, they know when to fight, not chicken out and run away." Perez said looking at the sky.

"I didn't run away! I told, I fell back to get a good shot on my rifle." Shaunter yelled.

"But you were on the gun which would've worked just fine." Perez countered.

"Sure, I would've killed him and you too." Shaunter said defensively.

"Whatever, let's go do some target practice. I figured out how to link a scope onto my rifle and I want to test it out." Shaunter said.

Perez thought a moment, "Now that you mention it, I've wanted to try out one of those MA5B's the Marines carry. It looks like it can pack a punch."

"What, and get rid of you M-16?"

"Hell no, as long as those MA5B clips still fit, I'm still gonna use it." Perez said glancing up at a passing jet.

"I still say it's a lucky coincidence those guns shoot the same size bullets and are the same size as our clips." Shaunter replied.

"I know, all of our other guns have to have ammo special ordered; especially the .50 ammo for your sniper rifle." Perez said as they entered their weapons locker.

The two Rangers took their weapons and cleaned them. They walked to the shooting range, which was surprisingly empty.

"I wonder where everyone is." Perez wondered.

"Maybe they have some sort of special drill goin on." Shaunter offered.

"Whatever, more room for us." Perez said sliding a clip into an MA5B and chambering a round.

Both soldiers fired at cardboard targets for about an hour when they heard a Warthog drive by. The driver was a tall pale man. He stared straight ahead. The two soldiers shared a shrug then continued shooting.

After a few hours Corporal Perez stopped firing.

"Ok 'mano, I'm done. I cant feel my shoulder anymore."

Shaunter finished off a cardboard target with four bullets that made a neat little hole in the middle.

"Me too, besides, I'm out of ammo."

As they walked back toward their weapons bunkers they heard a low rumble. Perez looked up and saw a jet thunder by. A few minutes later they heard cannon fire, followed by could only be the sound of a missile detonation.

"I wonder what they're up to today." Perez wondered out loud.

"Dunno, but whatever it is, it sounds like fun." Shaunter joked.

As they walked Perez stared at down at the MA5B in his hands.

"Remember when war was easy? When all you had to do was shoot one guy with one, maybe two shots and that was it. Remember when we didn't have to worry about space battles and the destruction of the human race?"

Shaunter looked up at the sky thoughtfully, "Yeah, this new war kind of makes our old job seem boring."

"We're the last two of our kind too. But it took 'em a year to do it. Lets see this one through to the end. No more dead Rangers, deal?" Perez held out his hand.

"Deal." Said Shaunter taking it.

The deal was sealed but both Rangers knew that it wouldn't last. For a solder, death was inevitable, but at least they would go down fighting.

**0500 Hours, August 29, 2552**

**Epsilon Eridani System, Reach**

"Well I just got our orders, we, along with several Marine and ODST divisions are to board the Halcyon class cruiser _The Pillar of Autumn._ We are to provide support the Spartans on an infiltration mission." Perez finished reading the orders off to Shaunter.

"Gee Corporal, I didn't realize this was a formal debriefing." Shaunter said with a snicker.

"Seeing that we are going to be going on an extended mission, we're either going to have make our own company or pick a division to join." Perez continued reading the orders.

"Well we could always join the ODST's. Those guys are pretty good." Shaunter suggested.

Perez nodded, "Ok, I'll talk with the ODST commander and see if we could join."

"He better let us. We could kick any of those guys' asses." Shaunter said darkly.

**0900 Hours, August 29, 2552**

**Epsilon Eridani System, Reach**

"Well it's done. We're part of the 22nd ODST division. Get your stuff together, we load up now."

**0400 Hours, August 30, 2552**

**Epsilon Eridani System, Reach**

Perez and Shaunter loaded the last of their equipment except for their rifles on the last shuttle carrying supplies up to the _Autumn. _Perez had a sinking sensation that something was wrong though. Something was going to happen, he just couldn't figure out what.

This wasn't the first time he'd felt it. Once when he was seven there was burglar outside his house with a gun. At first no one believed him but a loud crash and shattering glass had proved him right. But the most recent time was when he was ambushed in Iraq.

"You okay man? You've been pretty quiet the last coupla hours." Shaunter asked.

Perez shook his head, "I just got a funny feeling is all."

Shaunter laughed, "You're just bein paranoid."

**0447 Hours, August 30, 2552**

**Epsilon Eridani System, Reach**

Perez couldn't believe the message. He reread it four times just to make sure.

"I cant believe…it's not right." He said in slight shock.

They were sitting around the mess hall waiting to be shuttled the _Autumn _on the last Pelican out.

"What's up sir?" asked a nearby Private.

"Everybody lock and load! Go to defensive positions and be ready to fight off enemy attacks! Move it people!" Perez shouted.

Shaunter walked up to Perez as the Helljumpers ran toward makeshift defensive positions.

"Whats up man?" he asked.

Perez looked up at the sky, right now it was so calm, but that was going to change.

"Reach is under attack."


	8. Chapter 8

**Corporal Juan Perez**

**0520 Hours, August 30, 2552**

**Epsilon Eridani System, Reach**

"Bravo Two-Six this lead, what is your status?"

"We've managed to push them back again, but we heavy sustained casualties, recommend immediate reinforcements or we wont be able to hold this position much longer."

Perez swore and stared at the ground. What the hell was he supposed to do? Half of the ODST's were already on the _Autumn_ and he was running out of options. The fact that him, along with Shaunter were the two ranking officers didn't help much either.

"Copy that, I'm gonna send a couple of squads over to your location, ETA should be five minutes, lead out."

He looked around for a squad that was still intact for the most part.

"Shaunter come here for a sec." He called to his friend.

Shaunter ran over with his customized .50 cal rifle in hand.

"How's it goin?" he asked with a grim look.

"Better than I thought actually," Perez pulled out a map, "I need you to pick two squads and then go to grid 30-22. Those guys were hit hardest on that last attack and we need to hold that area or the Covenant has a straight shot to our rear."

Shaunter looked at the map, "Ok, when do you want me over there?"

"In five minutes if possible." Perez answered.

Shaunter nodded then left. Perez shook his head. This wasn't supposed to be happening, Reach wasn't supposed to be under attack. He should be on the ship getting ready to leave, instead he was stranded groundside and having to fight off wave after wave of Covenant troops.

All of the sudden his radio crackled to life, "_This is the 34th armored division, is there any friendlys out there?_"

"34th this is the 22nd ODST division. What is your location over?" Perez hoped that they were nearby, the armor would be useful for the next attack.

"_We are at grid 33-24, we were hit hard at the armory and had to bug out."_

"You're not to far from here, come to grid 30-20; we could use the help over."

"_Roger that, also be advised, the airfields were the first to go so air support is out of the question."_

Perez felt a feeling of dread come over him. Their Pelican was at one of the airfields before the attack began. Hundreds of Grunts, Jackals, even Elites landed and charged their location. They were hit so hard they had no choice but to fall back behind the mess hall. They were lucky to survive the first two encounters but Perez wondered if his luck was going to hold.

"Sir, recon two-one reports enemy scout party." said Private Hightower.

"Ok people; let's get ready for round three. We have armored reinforcements on the way so we won't have to hold them off for long. But until then conserve your ammo, only shoot when you know you have a shot and shoot in short, controlled bursts."

Perez checked his own rifle to make sure it was in working order. He thought back to the ambush, how he wished that he was still with his fellow Rangers.

"Banshees inbound!" A nearby soldier called.

Perez looked up in time to see two alien craft fly over their position and drop plasma bombs. One shot went far to the right and exploded harmlessly into a group of trees. But the second landed in the middle of a group of soldiers. He heard the screams from the men as their skin was instantly vaporized. The soldiers fell over in heaps of blackened bone.

Before the Banshees could come back for a second run, the ODST's had launched two Anaconda SAM anti air missiles at the fighters. Both fighters were destroyed and fell in burning heaps. One of the pilots survived long enough to have an M6D round tear through his skull. The Elite fell over in a pool of its own blood and brain matter. Private Hightower smirked as he wiped the blood off the barrel of his pistol.

Perez turned away from the scene and brought his binoculars up to his face. What he saw made him swear quietly to himself. The Banshees were just a distraction. He saw at least twenty U-shaped Covenant dropships inbound.

"Recall all recon teams! All units prepare for combat!"

**Corporal Michael Shaunter**

**Grid 30-22**

**0530 Hours, August 30, 2552**

**Epsilon Eridani System, Reach**

Shaunter was boned. He and three other Warthogs full of soldiers had just arrived when enemy armor showed up and started blasting away, killing half of the Marines instantly. But the most crippling blow came when the Warthogs were destroyed.

Despite these losses the Marines kept fighting. But the makeshift defenses were long gone. All Shaunter and his men had for defense was the dense forests that covered the area. They used guerrilla tactics against the aliens.

"Dammit!" Shaunter yelled as plasma bolt hit the tree he was standing next to singing the bark off, "All units fall back deeper into the woods, we'll try and lose them."

This was going all wrong he thought as the surviving Marines made their way deeper into the forest. He wasn't meant to lead troops. He was a sniper for Christ's sake. Not a leader. He paused; he heard the distinct whine of a ghost.

Shaunter brought his rifle to his face and looked for the vehicle. There, a flash of purple following the road next to the trees. The elite wore gold armor so that must mean he was important.

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Runu 'Saldaree was annoyed. The human scum were hiding in the trees and that made it difficult to find them. He had already sent teams of his camouflaged warriors to find them, but the humans had proved to be excellent hiders.

He steered his ghost up down the road that ran along the forest that the humans were hiding in to see if he could catch a glance of the vermin. He stopped the ghost and got off. The Elite commander activated his energy sword and approached the tree line. He had seen the sun reflect off of something.

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Shaunter brought the Elite's head into the center of the cross hairs of his rifle. He exhaled and pulled the trigger. The alien's head blew apart painting the ground around him purple.

"Gotcha," he breathed.

Shaunter then tried to radio the other Marines that had managed to make it into the forest. He tried several times but got no response. Something wasn't right. He knew at least 13 marines had managed to fall back into the wood work.

He crept slowly through the woods looking for a sign of life. He came across a dead Marine. Shaunter knelt over to check for dog tags. Private Jones. Jones had apparently died from some sort of blade judging by the way his body was cut in half.

As Shaunter rose he heard a branch snap. He turned and saw an energy floating toward him. He brought his rifle around and fired at the sword. He was awarded with a scream and an Elite that appeared out of thin air. Shaunter fired again and a round ripped through the Elite's stomach. The powerful .50 caliber round blew half of his entrails out and made the warrior fly into a tree.

Shaunter took a deep breath and leaned against a tree to collect himself. As soon as he let his guard down he felt something wrench his rifle out of his hands. The camouflaged Elite tossed the rifle away and activated his energy sword.

The sword lunged at Shaunter but he rolled away just as the blade sliced into the tree. Shaunter turned to run but he tripped and landed on his face. He rolled over, drew his M6D and fired at the approaching Elite.

**Corporal Juan Perez**

**0540 Hours, August 30, 2552**

**Epsilon Eridani System, Reach**

Perez was worried. His position was being overrun by hundreds of grunts, the armored reinforcements haven't arrived, and Shaunter hadn't reported in since he left. In short, this fight was going south quick.

Perez raised his rifle and aimed at a nearby Jackal. The Jackal fired at Perez. The overcharged plasma round flew harmlessly over his head. Perez aimed and fired at the top of the Jackal's shield. The bird-like alien's head erupted in purple blood and the body fell to the earth.

Perez shifted his rifle and found a grunt that was fixing to throw a grenade. He waited until the grunt activated the grenade then fired. The rounds tore through the grunt's environmental tank causing the alien to drop the grenade and gasp for air. The grenade exploded and took out five nearby enemies including an Elite.

Perez was took aim on another Elite. Right when he was fixing to pull the trigger, an explosion engulfed the Elite. Suddenly there were explosions happening everywhere within the enemy lines.

Perez turned and saw the most beautiful sight ever. The 34th had made it. Thirteen M808 Main Battle Tanks set loose a hellish wave that swept through the Covenant. After a few minutes the men and women of the 22nd ODST division had won their third round on Reach.


	9. The fall of reach

**UNSC vessel _The Pillar of Autumn_**

**0540 Hours, August 30, 2552**

**In orbit over Reach**

"MAC gun hot sir."

"Cortana, Get me a firing solution and make ready to fire."

Cortana's slender blue figure appeared on a holo pad.

"I've already got one for you Captain." Cortana replied coolly.

"MAC gun ready to fire sir." Reported Lieutenant Hikowa.

Captain Jacob Keyes turned to the battle raging in space.

"Send them to hell."

"Firing MAC gun now." Hikowa called.

Three thumps resounded through the ship's hull. Keyes watched the MAC rounds impact the Covenant ship. The ship's shields flared a brilliant white then dissipated. The remaining two MAC round penetrated the ship's nose causing it to spin into a nearby Covenant cruiser. The two ships collided and became interlocked. Another MAC round from another UNSC ship hit one ship's core.

The two ships momentarily became twin purple suns. After the light cleared all that remained was debris.

Keyes gave a sigh of relief, "Cortana, how many of our troops are groundside?"

"Give me a second to go over the roster…" she paused for a brief second, "The last Pelican transports was scheduled to transport the 22nd ODST division off of Reach when the Covenant began their groundside attack. They're still out there sir."

"Get me a COM link to their commander." Keyes said.

"Aye sir," Cortana's figure disappeared.

**Corporal Juan Perez**

**0550 Hours, August 30, 2552**

**Epsilon Eridani System, Reach**

"Took you boys long enough didn't it?" Perez asked with a grin.

"Well you know how it is, go for a drive wind up killing a few Covy bastards." The tank commander replied with a smile of his own.

The 34th had made a timely arrival. Perez and his men were on the verge of defeat when the tanks had descended on the battlefield like angels with giant 90mm high explosive cannons. Perez stopped at the absurdity of his last thought.

"90mm cannons..." he mouthed quietly to himself.

"Perez this is Cortana, do you read over?" Perez paused.

"This is Perez go ahead over." He responded

"What is the status of your division, are you able to move?" she asked

"Yeah, we've suffered heavy losses but, I've still got at least twelve people left in my division." Perez said.

"Ok, I've been in contact with your ride, Echo 316, go to grid 43-22 and wait for extraction." She said.

"Roger that, by the way where the hell are you?" He asked

"I'm on the _Autumn, _where else would I be?" she answered tartly.

"How the hell should I know, I'm stuck on the ground, and in case you didn't notice, there's a little something goin on right now."

He heard a huff of irritation, "Would you hurry up and get to your extraction point?"

"Roger that can't wait to meet you, Perez out."

Perez turned to his ODST's, "Ok saddle up, we're gettin out of here. I want the 34th to stay here and cover our asses."

The tank commander saluted, "Roger that, we got your six."

"Alright, let me send the coordinates to Shaunter's team and we'll be on our way." He keyed his COM switch, "Shaunter this is Perez over," static hissed over the COM, "Shaunter this is Perez do you copy over."

Perez swore, he needed Shaunter to help lead this team off of Reach.

"Perez to Cortana."

A hiss, then "Perez this is Cortana, what do you want now?"

"I need you to find a soldier for me, his name is Michael Shaunter, can you see if his IFF is still active?"

"I can try but I'm a little tied up at the moment, I'll see what I can do." Came the reply.

"Thanks Cortana, I owe you one." Perez said gratefully.

"Damn right you do." She remarked.

Perez ignored the last statement. He motioned for his troops to move out. The trip was at least two miles and a lot could happen in a war zone in that short distance. After they had been walking for five minutes Cortana came back on the COM.

"I've got some bad news Corporal. Shaunter's IFF tag is no longer active. I presume that he is dead. I'm sorry."

Perez stopped, "Are you sure about that, are you sure its right?" he had to know.

"Of course I'm sure," she said with a hint of irritation in her voice.

"Ok…thanks Cortana, we'll be to the Extraction Point shortly." He said quietly.

The 22nd continued their journey; Perez chose to stick with the cover provided by the forest rather than use the roads. After a while he motioned for his team to stop. He waved Hightower over.

"Look over at that boulder and tell me if you see anything unusual." He whispered.

Hightower squinted at the boulder, then rubbed his eyes and looked again, "It looks like a mirage sir."

"Thank you," he said as he brought his M-16 up, "That's all I wanted to know."

Perez squeezed the trigger. But instead of the three round burst impacting the boulder, it impacted a camouflaged Elite. The rounds made its shield shimmer and it also made the Elite to appear out of thin air. The alien roared with fury then began firing.

Suddenly the whole forest was alive with plasma fire. The Marine's returned fire at whatever looked like an invisible Elite. Perez primed a captured plasma grenade. He threw at what appeared to be the area the Elite's were located. The grenade exploded and the EMP from the grenade shorted out the camouflage generators.

Now, with the ability to see their enemy, Perez's company opened fire on the Elites. After what seemed like an eternity the final Elites were killed. Perez looked around to see how many casualties he had.

In the engagement Perez had lost almost half of his troops. He called everyone around him.

"Ok, I know we've suffered some major losses but we're just gonna have to keep moving. Our extraction point is at least half a click away so we're almost there. Check your gear and conserve ammo. I don't know how many engagements we're gonna be getting into so stay sharp and call out any contacts you see."

With that they were underway again. Perez wondered how many more men and women he was going to lose before they got off this God forsaken planet. It was hard for Perez to believe that just yesterday he had thought this to be one of the safest places in UNSC territory. He silently cursed the Covenant and vowed that he would get revenge for his fallen comrades.

Ahead Private Hightower motioned for everyone to stop. They all crouched down and waited.

"I've got what looks like a squad of Grunts up ahead, single file formation and heavily armed." He said over the COM.

Perez quietly crawled to Hightower's position, "Think we can take 'em?" Hightower asked his CO.

Perez looked thoughtfully at the squad, they were cautious, the lead Grunts moved up the road slowly checking everything to make sure they weren't walking into an ambush.

"Yep, this is what I want, Hightower, you're with me," Perez looked at the rest of the squad, "I want three of you to flank them, and two of you to stay back and provide support, me and Hightower will take out the Grunts on point then work our way back."

The small dog like aliens waddled ahead oblivious to the trap that awaited them. They conversed with each other in their native language and appeared to be content with their safety. The ODST's were fixing to change that.

Perez whistled like a bird, the sign for ready. One Grunt stopped, sniffed the air then continued on its way. After a few seconds Perez whistled again. Perez selected the single shot setting for his rifle and fired at a Grunt. The round punctured his chest spraying fluorescent blood on its comrades.

Hightower aimed his MA5B on the other Grunt and opened fire spraying alien with 7.62x51mm rounds. One round tore threw the Grunt's face causing it to fall into the other aliens behind him.

The rest of the squad made short work of the remaining Grunts.

"Confirm all targets are down and sweep the area for any more Covenant activity." Perez ordered.

He then policed any weapons he could find. He came away with two Plasma Rifles, seven Plasma Pistols, and a large quantity of Plasma Grenades which he distributed to his squad. They fired the weapons a few times to test them out and then continued on their journey.

After what seemed like an eternity of crawling, stopping, checking for enemy movement, and then crawling again they came upon a clearing. They had finally made it to grid 43-22.

Perez looked for the Pelican but didn't see it.

"Everybody fan out and find a place to hide, don't show yourself until our ride gets here understood?" Perez got a chorus of yes sir's over his COM. He knew that none of his squad would ever come out of hiding unless he gave the order, or a UNSC dropship came to pick them up.

Perez got on his COM again, "Cortana this Perez do you read, over"

**UNSC vessel _The Pillar of Autumn_**

**0620 Hours, August 30, 2552**

**In orbit over Reach**

"All hands brace for impact!"

The ship shuddered as a plasma beam impacted on the port side bow. Keyes pulled himself off the floor and wiped blood that had trickled down his eye.

"Damage report Cortana." He ordered

"Hull breach in section C, venting air pressure and sealing containment doors. Hull integrity in Sections D and E are at 50." The AI responded coolly.

Damn, he thought; if this battle doesn't turn soon Reach was going to fall.

"Lieutenant Hikowa, get me a firing solution on the bastard that hit us."

"On it sir… ok I got it." Hikowa reported.

"Fire when ready Lieutenant." Keyes told her.

"Aye sir firing MAC cannon in three…two…one… now!"

The cannon fired three slugs through space and connected with the Covenant cruiser that had attacked them. The first two rounds dissipated the shields, but only one round hit the cruiser directly.

"Cortana get a firing solution for Archer pods D- H and time them so they impact the same time the next MAC rounds hit."

Cortana turned a bright blue then returned to her normal purple. "Done." She said.

Keyes turned to Hikowa, "Fire when ready," he ordered her again.

"MAC gun at 90…95…MAC gun charged, firing!" she called in a steely calm voice.

Keyes watched as the plumes from the Archer missiles raced toward the cruiser along with three more MAC rounds. This time the Cruiser was split in half from the combined force of the MAC rounds and the missile detonations.

The crew on the bridge cheered at yet another victory.

Cortana however, was tracking the progress of the 22nd ODST division. She surprised to see that a few had managed to make it to the extraction point. She had calculated that they only had a 15 chance of making it there.

"Cortana, this is Perez do you read, over."

"I'm here, what's your situation." She replied calmly.

"We're at the extraction point but there's no extraction, care to explain why?" he asked.

"Echo 316 was forced to take off early because of earlier enemy ground movement, they are, however, flying back around and will be at your location in about fifteen minutes. Just sit tight Marines, you've made it this far." She said comfortingly.

"Yeah, easy for you to say, Perez out."

**Corporal Juan Perez**

**0625 Hours, August 30, 2552**

**Epsilon Eridani System, Reach**

"15 minutes!" Perez called on the COM.

As if on cue Private Hightower yelled, "Enemy dropships inbound!"

Perez looked up and saw two U-shaped dropships fly into the center of the clearing and drop at least twenty Covenant troops. Damn, as if this couldn't get any worse.

"All units open fire!" he shouted.

Gunfire erupted on the alien troops before they could even get on the ground. The Marine's concentrated their fire on the Jackals first, and then moved to the Elites.

Perez opened fire on a Jackal and watched his rounds deflect off the shield. He squeezed his left eye shut and looked down the steel sights of his M-16. He aimed for the area that exposed the Jackal's hand and fired. The round blew the Jackal's hand off. The alien dropped to the ground writhed in pain.

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'Unu Olnamee calmly walked over to the Jackal and shot it in the face. True the medical staff aboard the _Ascendant Justice _could have created a new hand for it but, Olnamee had no patience for a wounded member on his squad.

He looked for the human that had done this. It took exceptional skill to shoot a Jackal in its only vulnerable area. There he was, Olnamee spotted Perez and took note of his weapon. It appeared different from the human's weapons. He wondered if it was a new weapon, a more powerful weapon.

Olnamee fired on Perez just as Perez fire on Olnamee. Perez's rounds hit Olnamee's shields. One of Olnamee's rounds however, hit Perez in his shoulder.

Perez fell down and clutched his shoulder in pain; a purple shard had implanted itself in it. Just as he got back to his feet the shard exploded and blood sprayed from the wound. Perez inserted the tip of a can of self sealing bio foam into the wound.

The foam felt like a thousand ants were biting the inside of his shoulder. Perez shrugged off the pain and turned on the alien that had shot him. He brought his rifle to his good shoulder and fired on the Elite.

Olnamee was impressed. This was truly a fierce warrior. Olnamee knew the pain of being shot with a Needler and was surprised the human was able to avoid going into shock. This would be interesting.

Perez fired until his clip was empty. His shoulder was on fire. He reached down to grab another clip only to find that he didn't have anymore. He looked around for help but saw the rest of his busy fighting off the other aliens.

Olnamee saw his chance to move in and kill the human. He wanted the satisfaction of destroying this warrior up close. He got within five feet when, to his surprise the human pulled out a pistol and fired.

The powerful .357 rounds forced the Elite to recoil back. After to shots the Elite's shields flickered and died. Perez saw his chance and aimed for the warrior's head.

Olnamee saw death coming. He died the way he had wished. By the hands of a truly skilled and capable warrior. He muttered a brief prayer to the Prophets then said to the human, "May the divine journey recognize your worth."

Before Perez could get the final shot in he heard the Elite say something in his native language. Perez paused for a half second then fired. The Elite's head disappeared and the body fell to its knees, then fell over.

Perez leaned back against a tree trunk and waited for the Pelican to arrive.

It finally did just as the ODST's finished killing off the rest of the Covenant troops. Perez managed to get onboard before slipping into a coma. The Pelican got onboard the _Autumn_ and Cortana made ready for a Slipspace jump.

The _Autumn _jumped into Slipspace after the coordinates Cortana entered were confirmed to be in agreement with the Cole Protocol. The _Pillar of Autumn _disappeared into Slipspace; her crew unknown of the horrors that they would discover.


	10. epilouge

**UNSC Vessel _The Pillar of Autumn_**

**In orbit over gas giant Threshold**

**Date:Error 27-B/ Time:Error 27-B**

The _Autumn_ slipped quietly through space; behind the gas giant Threshold. Perez had opted not to go into cryo sleep so his shoulder could heal better. When he was brought aboard the _Autumn_ the doctors found that his shoulder was all but lost. They had to flash clone a whole new shoulder so he could still fight.

They told him to be easy on his shoulder for at least two weeks but; Perez knew that he would be back fighting wherever they go. He stared out a window on the ship into the void. He wondered what had happened to Shaunter, if he had gotten off.

Perez shook his head, there was no way Shaunter was still alive. Even if he did survive the battle with Covenant troops; there was no way he would survive when the Covenant glassed Reach.

While he was looking out the window something slipped into view. It was a large ring shaped world. There was something ominous about it. The inside of the world was filled with lush vegetation and oceans. But the outside looked gray and metallic. He wondered what secrets it held.

Perez looked up as Keyes' voice came over the PA. "All hands go to battle stations. Prepare to repel boarders. We'll commence attacking after we pass Threshold. It has been a pleasure serving with the fine men and women who have fought for this ship. Good luck and God speed. Keyes out."

Perez made his way to the armory and prepared to fight again, and win.

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**Author's notes: First of all I would like to thank everyone who helped me make this story what it is now. It started as something a couple of friends talked me into doing, and despite a plummeting GPA and multiple complaints from my parents for staying up way to late. My first fic is complete. So thanks for sticking with me guys and who knows…I may even write a sequel.**


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